There's just one chance left in Beijing to break the so-called "jinx" of the Canadian flag-bearer, after kayaker Adam van Koeverden finished a shocking eighth in the K-1, 1,000 metres on Friday.
It was the same event in which he won a bronze medal at the 2004 Games in Athens.
His time of three minutes, 31.793 seconds was well back of Tim Brabants of Britain, who took gold in three minutes, 26.323 seconds.
Van Koeverden, Canada's choice as the country's flag-bearer, was just six-tenths of a second back at the halfway point and had closed the gap to 0.36 seconds, but blew up down the stretch. It was unfamiliar territory for him.
"It's a hell of a time not to have it. It's the worst 1,000 I've put together in years," van Koeverden told Â鶹´«Ã½ shortly after the race.
His absence on the podium was also a shock to his competitors.
"It was only when I crossed the finish line that I realized Adam was back and that was a big surprise, New Zealand's Ben Fouhy, who took fourth place, told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Friends and family were startled by van Koeverden's eighth-place finish.
"I went quiet. I think the stands told it, that we went quiet. It was unexpected," his aunt Theresa van Koeverden told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Friend Emilie Fournel said van Koeverden's past success made it that much harder to accept the loss.
"It was really tough to see him not to succeed because it doesn't happen often," she told Â鶹´«Ã½.
Van Koeverden joins other notable athletes who were considered "sure-bet" Canadian medalists but came up short after marching their team into the opening ceremonies.
Curse of the flag-bearer
Jean-Luc Brassard was a favourite in the freestyle skiing moguls competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, but failed to win a medal. Brassard later blamed the flag-bearer role for his loss. Figure skater Kurt Browning finished fifth after carrying the flag at the Lillehammer Games in Norway in 1994, and Michael Smith also did not win a medal at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona.
The star kayaker from Oakville, Ont. had no explanation of why he fared so poorly in the race.
"All I have is an apology," he said. "I'm sorry."
The 26-year-old said his plan was to stay close to Brabants out of the gate then "pop him" at the end.
"He had a very strong pickup at the 500 and I countered it, went with him a little while and then people just started blowing past me and I couldn't handle it," said van Koeverden. "I'm extremely disappointed."
Van Koeverden has the opportunity to snap the flag-bearer skid on Saturday when he gets the chance to defend his Olympic gold in the K-1 500 final. The star kayaker broke the world record in the heat earlier in the week and said he won't dwell too much on Friday's disappointing finish.
"I'll reflect on what made it bad," he said. "I'll reflect on what I can do better."
With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV's Steve Chao
